Sugar is a Sneaky Son of a B*@&$

And it’s the largest contributor to the obesity epidemic.

Hello everybody! I hope you had a wonderful weekend filled with the last days of summer. I can’t believe we’re already in back-to-school mode, and that fall is quickly approaching. Not that I mind too much – fall is my favorite season after all. I can’t wait to begin sharing fall-themed things with you!

In the meantime, I thought it was important to shed some light on a topic that has been getting a lot of press in general. And to be honest, I’m glad this topic’s getting as much press as it is because it’s something that many weren’t paying attention to before.

Added sugar. Yes, today we’re talking about added sugar specifically, ie: the stuff that food manufacturers add to their products. Natural sugars are something very different. They occur naturally in foods and are not added for flavor or to give body to soft drinks. Fruit is a great example. Fructose, or fruit sugar, is found naturally in an apple or a peach, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid fruit because it contains fructose.

Today’s discussion is mostly going to be focused on added sugars and how food manufacturers sneak them into processed foods. It’s important for you to be able to recognize these added sugars so you can avoid them. As it stands, I would back the theory that added sugar is this country’s leading cause of obesity, and as a result it is something you should strive to avoid.

Reading a Nutrition Facts Panel 101

It’s a skill everyone should have.

Hello friends! I hope your weekend was glorious and filled with fun. Thankfully things are slowing down and I can see the end approaching while I enjoy the last bit of summer I’ve got left. In the midst of it all I’ve secured my food service management rotation AND my long term care placement for part of my clinical rotation of my dietetic internship for 2016-2017. My next targets are my acute care and outpatient placements and I can worry about the community rotation later. Hopefully this summer doesn’t leave me too burned out for the school year so I can bust my butt and kill it while balancing my graduate assistant job at the wellness center and being the nutrition club’s secretary. Whew!

Regardless, working this much has definitely been helpful for the upcoming year. For once I feel like I haven’t wasted a summer. In fact, it’s been very productive thus far really. So that’s definitely a positive! 🙂

Today I wanted to touch on something I’m surprised I haven’t thoroughly gone through before. I think it’s an absolute necessity for anyone to know, and it really forms the basis of where healthy eating can begin – in the grocery store. And no, I’m not talking about MyPlate – though that’s an excellent tool as well. What I’m talking about are Nutrition Facts Panels aka those things on the box of food that few people ever bother to read, or simply don’t know how to. But that’s ok – today I’m here to show you how!

Why Should You Avoid Processed Foods?

Raise your hand if you’ve seen or heard avoid processed foods as much as possible from any one in the nutrition profession? 

Hello everybody! I hope you’ve had a great start to the week. I’ll bet you every single one of you raised your hand to that question. If you’ve read through enough of my posts you’ll have seen it quite a few times. So I thought today I’d devote a little time to explaining what processed foods are and what you should watch out for!

What’s the Deal with Organic?

Should I or shouldn’t I?  

Hello everybody! I hope those of you in the US enjoyed a holiday of cookouts and honoring those who have given their lives in service to our country. In other parts of the world I hope you are having a fantastic Tuesday!

So in light of it being March Against Monsanto over the weekend I wanted to talk about something that can be a little, if not totally, confusing.